The Garden of Evil
by Aniah
Summary: Jenny decides to give up herself to Julian in favor of sending everyone else home. THE FORBIDDEN GAME trilogy.
1. Default Chapter

The Garden of Evil  
  
An L.J. Smith Fanfiction based on her trilogy  
  
1 The Forbidden Game  
  
* * *  
  
Aniah  
  
AniaHope@aol.com  
  
* * *  
  
AH! INCREDIBLE! I love this! I've read the trilogy three times and I decided to head toward ficdom. Waiwaiwai! FIVE reviews will get the next chapter going, aight?  
  
This starts at the end of the first book, when Jenny becomes betrothed to Julian. What if she HAD stayed with him, past the 6:11am sunrise?  
  
* * *  
  
Summer was gone…Tom shackled, gaunt, and defiant. If she wanted to get everyone else home with a heartbeat, she would have to do it…  
  
The walls of the "paper" house closed in on her. Everyone's gaze was in her direction. Amongst them all Julian's oceanic eyes bored into her…Jenny wanted to cry. But she held her head high, and spoke: "I'll do it." The otherworldly orbs flashed something she hadn't seen in their short acquaintance: glee.  
  
He pulled out a ring, and in front of Dee, Zach, Audrey, Michael, and Tom, they did the whole betrothal spiel (A.N., if you've read this, then I don't have to explain it). Jenny felt so…hollow. "Before I go anywhere, send them back home," she demanded, willing him to do it.  
  
"I have your promise, it's no problem at all," he smiled, and flicked a wrist. A silent, pale form was suddenly lying right in front of Zach.  
  
"Sun-bunny…?" Michael asked tentatively. Jenny bent down, and hugged Summer, feeling tears gather behind her eyes.  
  
"Jenny…are the bugs gone, then?" She asked.  
  
"Uh-huh. But you guys need to go back, now," she smiled, and Audrey moved to help support Summer from the other side.  
  
"You're not coming?" the Sun-bunny asked, dreading the answer. Before Jenny could reply, Dee finally exploded.  
  
"The HELL you're going with this son-of-a-bitch icicle! This is so fucking NOT HAPPENING!" She flew in Julian's general direction, foot out in a characteristic kick, but Zach grabbed her en route.  
  
"It's Jenny's choice, Dee," he said wearily.  
  
"That it is," agreed Julian, unable to prevent a smirk. "But if you all are going to leave, I suggest you do it now."  
  
"Please, guys," Jenny added, looking each one in the eye. "I'm sure I'll find a way to get in touch with you," she couldn't look into Tom's eyes.  
  
"All right, Mon Cher," Audrey murmured, linking arms through Tom and Michael. "We're going." She dragged the guys through the portal, and they were gone. Jenny's heart wrenched, but she stood firm as Julian put an arm around her waist.  
  
"C'mon," Zach dragged Dee and pulled Summer through. "See ya, Jen," he called, and disappeared through the mist. She was all alone, in a façade of her grandfather's basement, with Julian.  
  
* * *  
  
Wai, I'm gone. email Aniahope@aol.com if you have suggestions. I'm waiting on FIVE reviews for the next chapter, 5. 


	2. After the Portal

The Garden of Evil

Chapter Two: After the Portal

Based on the Forbidden Game Trilogy

*   *   *

Aniah

AniaHope@aol.com

*  *  *

Wahey. It's 3:45am and I'm bucketing boring! Bored! Shazz! Bang! Writing Julian makes me sane? We shall find out.

Disclaimers:

I own nothing but my mind and what lives within.

Fifteen reviews, not including my hard drive warning, for the next chapter.

*  *  *

            "Listen, I REALLY need to clean up," Jenny sighed, looking at her grimy outfit. I'm going to take a shower, k?" Julian was up against the wall, near the portal.

            "Sure," he replied. "Would I leave any of my worlds without the basic utilities of a mortal's life?" Jenny had to stifle a giggle.

            "You mean…Shadow Men don't need to go to the bathroom?" At this she burst out laughing, and headed upstairs. The bathroom door locked behind her, she rummaged through the counter and came up with some groady, yet usable shampoo, crème rinse, and bodywash. "Sweet," she exclaimed, placing them on the shelf within the bath/shower combo. 

            Gingerly peeling off the offensive clothing from the night before…_was it really only twelve hours ago?...she stepped over the tub rim and into the shower. The water took a minute to get going, just like it had when she and Zach had stayed there as young'uns. The water was even a bit rusty, but it washed away as it warmed up._

            Jenny felt tired. The warm water was so relaxing…it was easy to let her mind drift as she took her hair down and combed in the haircare products with her fingers. She smiled, eyes closed, and let the warm water play over the grime that had collected. Yawning, she turned off the shower and groped for a towel…

            …there was none. She groaned, exasperated, and looked frantically for a replacement. "Need this?" She jumped, and peered around the curtain. Julian held up a fluffy, embroidered towel, just like the ones her grandma had had. 

            "Come on," she pleaded, "I belong to you. Get over it. _Everyone needs their space." She took the towel and closed the curtains again._

            "Well, it's not like you had anything to change into," he answered, "but of course I fixed that." Wrapping the towel around herself, Jenny looked at what Julian had provided.

            "You think I trust _your taste in lingerie? You've got to be kidding. Well, whatever." The material of the long nightgown was silvery-black, and Julian obligingly turned away from his bride's nudity. _

            "You know," he said quietly, "we aren't completely removed from society, we just can't participate in it unless something like this goes on. You're really lucky, Jenny. I always thought some philanthropist or a do-gooder would be the object of my affections, but in my lifespan you are the only one whose light was innocent, and unintentional. You drew me like a mosquito to a citronella candle," he turned, knowing she was dressed, and drew her unresisting form into his strong arms.

            Julian's kiss was just like it had been in the game, only there was no restraint. Jenny wanted to fall to her knees, curl up in a ball, or punch him in the stomach. But, she reasoned, the only thing worse then an enamored Shadow Man was a lustful, pained Shadow Man.  When they came up to breathe, she yawned.

            "I'm spent," she declared, and wandered into what had been the guest bedroom.  (A.N. before I tried to sleep, I was watching Austin Powers) Taking off the Amish-style quilt, Jenny curled up in it and stretched, preparing for sleep. Despite them being in some void or other, the sunlight coming from the window seemed natural enough, and when Julian came to draw the curtain, she was just coherent enough to ask: "So…are we in YOUR world now, or mine?"

            "It doesn't matter," Julian replied, "because I have you, and we're together." He drew her already-sleeping form into his arms, and smiled.

*  *  *

OK. Now it's 4:05am, and my damn dog is STILL snoring. And I can't sleep! WHYY? 


	3. World of their Own

The Garden of Evil

Chapter Three: World of their Own

Based on the Forbidden Game Trilogy

*   *   *

Aniah

AniaHope@aol.com

*   *   *

Yes, I know it's been over six months. I'm sorry. I wasn't inspired. Hope I'll be now so I can provide y'all with some more Julian/Jenny delightfulness.

*   *   *

            Jenny awoke on a laaaarge bed…much bigger than Audrey's parent's four-poster. She stretched lazily, and snuggled deeper into the fluffy down comforter. _Wait a minute,_ she wondered, _Grandpa doesn't have a down comforter._ That random realization brought her to consciousness, where she realized her surroundings. The bed was covered in velvety blacks edged in a silver ribbon. She sat up, and took a closer look at the lingerie that Julian had provided.

            It was much too transparent for her taste; though it did have the grace to leave enough to the imagination. She sat up, and pulled a sheet around her for modesty's sake. She shimmied to the edge of the massive bed, and pulled the curtains back. Julian sat on a chaise, all in black, with a slim gold hoop glinting in his right ear. His nose-length bangs were over his eyes, but he looked up from the paperback he was reading to offer a grin at her.

            "You've slept a world," he commented, putting the book (horror genre, she thought) on a small black marble end table. 

            "What do you mean?" Jenny asked shyly, folding the sheet around her. 

            "You know the book _Around the World in Eighty Days?_ Let me just say that I carried you almost that far in one," her eyes widened, and she took in the high ceilings and the gothic-era architecture of the area.

            _We're not in California anymore, Toto,_ she commented ironically to herself. "Where are we?" She asked aloud.

            "My lair, so to speak," Julian, came and put a palm around her waist. The hand was cold, she felt, even through sheets and negligee. 

            "Which is where?" Jenny wanted a sense of bearing, desperately.

            "We have the most awesome view," he motioned to the wide balcony doors, and unclasped the silver hook-and-eye at his throat. "The best part is, no one can see us," he opened the door, and she gasped at the site only the foothills of the Alps in summer could invoke. 

            "This _is_ the Alps, right?" She pulled the sheet tighter, as he escorted her outside. 

            "Who knows? It might be a façade," he joked, though the look in his eyes suggested that it might be the case. "We've got a castle at our disposal, and eternity at our fingertips," he looked meaningfully into her eyes, and Jenny backed into the balustrade, unreasonably afraid. Her stomach growled.

            "I'm hungry," she said matter-of-factly, surprised at how he started. _I guess Shadow Men don't require food_.

            "What do you want?" he asked, striding back inside, fists clenched. 

            "Um; I don't know. A blueberry muffin?" She shrugged. "Something modest to wear?" He chuckled at that, and she winced behind his back at the sarcastic note of the laugh.

            "The first request's fine, but you'll have to wait on the other," a bell rang daintily, and he pulled out a small panel in the wall to a good-sized muffin, milk, orange juice, and a banana. Next to them was a cup, and a rose matching the one she had found the night before, in the Erlking's underworld.

            "You even know the food pyramid," Jenny marveled falsely, too cowed to say anything else. She poured herself some of the milk, avoiding touching the rose.

            "Here," Julian picked the bloom up, and put it behind her ear in a tender, hard gesture. "You can appreciate it freely, now."

            "No," she answered, swallowing a bit of the muffin. "Take it out."

            "What, you won't accept a gift from your betrothed?" His voice held a metallic harshness, and he ran the flower down her cheek. 

            "It's not that; it was just so---" he pulled off the sheet, and Jenny blanched, covering her dark-clothed chest with her hands. The negligee might not have been there, for all Julian was looking at her. 

            "So what?" he asked, drawing her to her feet and kissing her fiercely. Jenny felt as if she were terribly off balance, that she could fall any second onto the shiny wooden floor. Julian's hands wandered back to her waist, and he guided her to the bed. 

            "No, please, Tom—" she gasped as he pushed her down, realizing that he wasn't being rough at all, yet his ministrations were so much more cruel-seeming than anything Tom had ever done with her.

            "What about him? You made your choice, Jenny, and you can't go back. What about Tom, Jenny?" brow furrowed in fear and pain, Jenny shook her head against the black comforter, eyes shut in pain.

            "Nothing, Julian. Nothing." She felt his icy hand caress her face.

*   *   *

Amen. So I'm updated. Wahey! Please review!


	4. Enter the Shadowmen

The Garden of Evil 

Chapter Four: Enter the Shadow-Men

*   *   *

Aniah

AniaHope@aol.com

*   *   *

I know; it's been almost a year since I last updated, and almost two since I started. Time for some closure, yeah!

This work's dedicated to Kayla, who introduced me to L.J. Smith initially.

*   *   *

                The Shadow-men were amused. "The pup's taken a bride," they laughed, "let's wager on how long she'll last." Needless to say, the spirits of hell and darkness had long ago lost the icy beauty that had so captivated Jenny and her friends. They watched the youngest of their kith as he consummated his vow with the human; there hadn't been such sport in limbo for almost an eon.

                "What shall we send them for a wedding present?" The eldest asked. "I could contract a delightful little version of the bubonic plague to smite her down!" He cackled, sending chills through every one of his cohorts.

                "That's too medieval, Adonis," the second sneered. "We're in the 1990s; get with the times. I say we put the two lovebirds in a Game of our own!" This one might have been a woman, but she shape-shifted whenever someone glanced at her.

                "He's too smart for that, after all, I trained him," Adonis reasoned, fashioning a throne out of the abyss. We don't want to anger him; he'll just find some rune or other that will vanquish us. It's the bride we need to focus on, and I know just how to do it. He grinned in a rather feral fashion, and leaned forward to tell his cronies the plan.

*   *   *

                Jenny was floating. It was a soothing, calming sensation, and she could hear the distant songs of birds from some trees nearby. She sighed; it seemed very, very perfect. Stretching her pale arms out wide, she sat up.  _I was right,_ she mused thoughtfully, _we're floating._ They were on some sort of house-boat, in an evidently temperate climate.

                "Hey, did you move us places while I was sleeping again?" She asked, looking around for Julian. It was then that she realized that there were two legs outside of her own. Dreading what she would find, she twisted around, only to see that she had been sleeping _on_ the youngest Shadowman. _This is not cool,_ she gnashed her teeth as he flashed a smirk at her.

                "It's not that I transported us anywhere; we both did it, Beautiful. I personally think that this type of place is a bit too much like the Elysian  Fields, but I've never actually been there." She shrugged, and pulled a sheet around her chest. It was even obvious to herself that Jenny was in denial about what had previously occurred between the two of them at the castle in the Alps.

                "I have this strong sense of doubt that tells me you'd never be allowed into the Elysian Fields," she pointed out, getting up to pull a soft sheet over her body. She looked around; the river wasn't very wide, maybe half a mile or so in width, with banks that alternated between rocky and tree-lined shores. Now and then they'd pass under a natural bridge that suggested that the region had remained untouched by human hands.

                "Where do we go from here?" she asked, pacing to one end of the vessel and back. 

                "What do you mean?" He asked lazily, trailing a hand in the cool water, glacial eyes never leaving his love.

                "There's nothing for me to do. No school to study for, no shopping at the mall with my friends…I can't call my family. I'm guessing there's no way for me to get a job without you having a hissy fit; not that they'd hire me without a high school diploma. What kind of life am I supposed to live with you, Julian?" Her voice quivered; realization was finally hitting Jenny.

                "Is it so terrible, to want you to live a life of luxury? You'll want for nothing, Jen, I promise.."

                "But what about your Shadow Man schemes, and all of that? Do you just expect me to go along for the ride? What if someone else starts playing The Game; am I supposed to sit back and watch you make their lives miserable too?"

                Julian paused for a moment, letting flames play in his eyes. With a swirling motion, he shape-shifted into the Erl-king. "Quite frankly, Gorgeous, you are." He tucked the self-same red rose back into Jenny's hair, and pulled her back down beside him.

*   *   *

                Adonis chuckled, watching the spectacle from his lair. Azazel and Belial had draped themselves on either side of his demonic throne, the former in vaporous form, the latter reclining as a distorted lioness, jaws dripping with toxic saliva. "Let's give the pup a taste of his own medicine. As soon as he sleeps, bring her to me," he motioned to Azazel, who solidified and grinned; a smile as cavernous as the abyss they relaxed in. 

                "It shall be done," the second-in-command made a half-assed bow, and flowed silently into the picture in Adonis' vision. He watched as Julian visibly perked and tensed, his Erl-king image fading away quickly.

                "Get into the house, Jen," he warned, in a voice that booked no argument. She fled accordingly, and Julian turned to face the devil's minion. "Well, what a surprise," he smiled wolfishly. "Wait," his grin waned a bit,  "I don't see any wedding gift. My wife'll be ever so disappointed." Azazel bared his teeth.

                "You do something stupid like this, boy," he snorted contemptuously, "and you know that you'll get on Adonis' bad side. I knew you were never one to think before he acts," he admonished, before whirling down to follow Jenny.

                "Dammit," Julian breathed, knowing he was incapable to match his elder Shadow-man in a world that wasn't normally his own. As the vapor streamed away, Jenny in tow, the youngest Shadow-man began to formulate a course of action.

*   *   *

I know, took me long enough, ne?


End file.
